From Here to There
by DAve and Bob
Summary: When random people are selected from our world to go to the world of Avatar. They all react differently, some simply want to go home, others want to use the opportunity to become heroes and live out their fantasy's while some are simply having a hard time adjusting. It may be a hard lesson to learn, but what you see on a screen is far different than living it.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**An all-time, no year-breaks, vacation. **

Her messy brown hair poked out from her bed as empty chip bags and soda bottles littered her room, her alarm blaring through the air, normally she didn't have to wake up until noon, and even then that was considered early for her as the young woman yawned.

Her room was a mess, a large collection of games and DVD's were stacked in the corner wires piling up, with two boxes holding a mixture of clean and dirty clothes, she had a dresser it was just far too much of a hassle to use.

At the head of a bed was an old work out bench she bought at a whim as she grabbed her stomach, getting a feel on her fat ratio.

"Hmm, nothing to worry about yet," She rubbed her eyes as she casually put her hand on the floor, feeling for her glasses, as she lazily put them on, still in her pajamas the woman jumped out of bed, ignoring the sound of the bag and crushed cans of soft drinks.

"I should brush my teeth and check if my DVD's are here," She groaned slightly, as she exited her room, the very room she spent most of her time in.

Her house wasn't very large, which was fine, even if she could get something bigger, the smaller it was the more money she had for other things.

The woman lazily dragged her feet into the bathroom decorated and a soulless gray tint, as she looked at the tooth paste holder holding a single orange tooth brush, she then looked in the mirror and noticed just how messy her hair was.

She simply shrugged, it wasn't like she was going out that day, the only reason she even took showers and brushed her teeth was to keep her hygiene up, she wasn't prepared to lose teeth due to laziness even if she didn't care about most other things.

After pouring the green liquid in her mouth called mouth wash and swishing it around, she spit it out in the sink before yawning once again, she weighed her options at that moment.

"_It would be weird to eat right after I brushed my teeth, I guess I'll change first," _The woman sighed as she entered her room grabbing four random articles of clothing from her pile caring little about the freshness of any of them.

This was the life of Sara Lazze, the woman who lived off of her parents money, it was both sad and amazing at the same time.

They both were wealthy and as a result due to their unfortunate untimely demise, Sara was left with enough money never to have to work a day in her life. Really one would have called it luck if it was for the nasty side effect of having dead parents.

Sara had forgotten how long it had been since she dropped out of high school and just hung around her house. After all there was no reason to finish when everything she needed was going to be paid for due to the combination of her parents life insurance and their assets.

She was on a lifelong vacation that wasn't ending any time soon, which was fine by her.

She sucked in her stomach slightly as she put on her jean's she then put on an orange T-shirt before putting on a small button up sweater.

It was the middle of winter, and she despised using the heaters to heat her home the dry heat always made her throat swore and curling up in her bed and under covers was far more satisfying then heating the home with an oven and getting hot after fifteen minutes.

Sara got out of her bathroom and casually sat in one of the many chairs in the kitchen, carefully examining the clock in the room, it was around nine, her package should be there at any moment as the woman sighed.

She had plenty of things to do, but if she left the room, then she might miss the package, of course she wasn't going to speak to the delivery man in person. She was simply going to wait until they leave the package on the step and hurry and get it.

The clock ticked, as it donned on her she was waiting to watch a series nearly fifteen years old. It was almost fifteen...right?

"Okay, it's 2019 right now, so it's about fourteen, huh," Before Sara's thoughts could continue to wander her ringing sound through the house was heard, it was most likely the doorbell.

Sara grumbled as she sat up, tiptoeing towards the door, making sure she made no sound, after a few more rings and knocks she heard a voice on the other side of the door.

After a few minutes of waiting, Sara cracked open a door noting the brown box on the front door before sighing, of course this was the package she was looking for.

She quickly scooped it up and slammed her door, she quickly ran back into her room with little care for breakfest and other things. She then ripped open the box reveling three different DVD box sets of a series she never watched before.

"Avatar the last Airbender...huh," Sara didn't really know what to make of the box art, it was well done to say the least. Though that could be said for most art for covers of things, she looked at the spine of the series and noted the three numbers, showing what season was which.

Really, she simply got it as a recommendation online, things had been rather slow for gaming front so she needed something to kill time with. Even if she didn't like it, she had all the money in the world, so she could waste whatever she wanted.

"Okay, what am I going to watch this on?" Every device in her room that was attached to her TV was capable of playing either Blu-rays or DVDs, so it was easy just to select the one that was currently attached, which was her game console.

Usually there was some build up for watching a box set, but Sara was bored so she simply opened the box for the first box set as she sat on her bed, with only her big toe she tapped the ejection button on her tray. She then leaned forward and placed the disk in the tray, the machine made a rather strange noise.

The kind of noise that sounded like a pig dying,

"Ah man, don't tell me this thing is about to blow up, if it eats the disk and I have to buy a new boxset, I will be pissed..." Sara eye twitched as she tapped the machine, it started to shake. It seemed like it was about to burst into flames.

She was tempted just to unplug the system at that point, as she looked towards the tangled mess of wires and controllers, it was impossible to tell where it ended or where it began as Sara face fell, the noise from the machine continued to get louder and louder.

Sara was weighing her options, even if her house burned down she could just by another one, but that would mean she would have to go outside, and that was a big no-no.

Sara looked closely at the machine as she clicked the power button repeatedly, but the small light would not go off.

"Gah, I should have just watched the episodes online or something," Sara rubbed her temple, the machine was still making a rather horrible noise, but it was no longer shaking.

It appeared that the worst part of it all had passed, appeared was the word since the machine was still make such horrible noises.

"Damn, where is that wire?!" It wasn't like anyone was going to see her room so there was no need to even try to keep it clean as she lifted a small wire carrying a lump of large wires with it, untangling it probably would have taken an hour, and Sara had more important things to do.

Well it would be important if the cracks in the console wasn't turning red for whatever reason as Sara's glasses slowly fell loose, for some reason in the back of her head she predicted an explosion was about to happen.

And she was correct, it simply exploded, though from the looks of it, the blast probably wasn't enough to kill anyone, actually it was kind of a popping sound.

Sara froze, looking at the remains of her 500$ system, though it was less about the cost and more about the fact that she was going to have to order another online meaning she was going to be forced to order another.

Sara looked at the wires, and let out a sigh of relief, nothing caught fire from the smoldering pieces of plastic and metal, though her controller was completely destroyed.

However, out of it there was a single glimpse of hope, on the twisted black stained carpet where the system once stood, there was a single disk, the same disk that caused the entire thing with her system in the first place.

"Bah, this thing is probably defective, why does this always happen to me...first the waffle maker and now this! Fuck it! It's to early for this shit, I'll order my new system when I wake up..."

Sara put the DVD back into the case, as she threw the boxset on the floor, she then dragged her feet, picking up pieces of the destroyed system, which was still warm of course.

She really couldn't blame anyone but herself, bad things always seemed the happen to he when she woke up before noon, it was far easier just to stay up all night and ignore daylight completely.

After she picked up the pieces of her machine, she simply turned off the light in her room, the curtains were already drawn, truth of the matter. Sara wondered why she even bothered with windows as she slumped back on her bed.

Even if she didn't wake up until after dark, there was no wasted days for Sara Lazze, she was in an endless vacation, one that she was happy to be on. If she couldn't do something that day, then she could do it the next, or the one after that.

Having nearly infinite time to just laze about, not having to think or work.

And so Sara eyes closed, letting sleep take her, knowing next time she awoke she would be able to do as she pleased, like always.

Sara buried her face deeper into the pillow, well she assumed it was a pillow, it wasn't partially soft, which was odd since Sara remembered falling asleep in her bed and on her pillow, so it was flat out impossible for her to wake up on anything that wasn't that.

Well there was always the chance she simply fell over and landed on her carpet, but even then she had a higher chance of falling into one of the many machines scattered about her room then landing perfectly on her carpet.

There was also a sudden chill in the air, well sudden wasn't the right word for it, more like a constant cold wind coming over her. Actually any warmth that she experienced was no longer there, in fact she was freezing.

Through all her thoughts her eyes were closed, so this was just things she was thinking about while her main senses were shut off, so it was only natural that she decided to open her eyes.

It was pitch black other than the soft moonlight hovering over her head, there was also dark tall figures, of course they were trees.

Sara blinked, her eyes trying to readjust to what she was seeing, she tapped her glasses, she was wearing them. So whatever she was seeing, it wasn't because her vision was blurry, as Lazze sat up, her bewilderment slowly turned to confusion and worry.

"_W-where am I?" _Her mind started to shake, she was in the forest no doubt, but where or why? One moment she was taking a nap and the next she is in the middle wilderness with no explanation at all.

So there was only one explanation for everything, one end all be all, something simple that was capable of dismissing all strangeness and oddities in our life.

"_This is a dream..."_ Sara chuckled slightly to herself as she looked around, there were noises in the pitch-black woods, she could feel the chill in the air, but it had to be a dream.

So she pinched herself, hard, until her pale skin turned red. There was pain, but even so it had to be a dream, a painful dream, but still a dream.

Because people don't randomly appear in the middle of a forest so this wasn't a possibility just a dream that happened.

"_Okay...just wake up," _It was a demand she gave her body, but it did not respond, she stayed there...in the middle of the dark woods with nothing but noises to be heard.

Sara simply stood there, like an idiot, she wasn't waking up and she was still in the middle of the cold damp area.

So...Sara fell to her knees holding her head, biting her lip. The only piece of warmth she had was her sweater, for once being glad that she wore such a thing inside.

She wondered, if she should just walk in a direction or simply wait, neither of the choices sounded appealing.

She almost started to cry, it was frustrating, frustrating she wasn't in her home, frustrating that she was in the middle of the forest with no way out and frustrating that it was so cold. The last bit seemed rather out of place as Sara started to rub her hair furiously, causing the turn the once messy lump into something indescribable.

"Ah!" A voice of shock escaped the woman's mouth, as the sound of twigs and branches snapping.

It could be a bear, or a mountain lion, or perhaps the dreaded Lion-mountain bear,

Sara was never much of a camper, in fact this was probably the longest time she had been outside at any single moment. As the brown haired woman held her breath, there was one thing she could do, one thing that any basic human could know how to do.

"_I have to hide...even if this is a dream," _Sara held her breath as she looked around desperately.

Sara touched around the trees, looking for something, looking for something or someplace to hide. After moments of looking, she felt a large hole in one of the many wooden towers as Sara smiled slightly as she lowered her hair and compacted her body.

Usually she cursed her small body and stature, but if it allowed her to be able to hide in the most amazing of places.

Sara had no problem to admit that she was a coward, in fact she would be the first one to admit it was the best attribute, the kind of person that didn't need any praise, just someone who wanted a nice easy life no matter the cost.

Sara did not speak, there were voices that were heard, but it was impossible for Sara to actually make any of them out as the woman held her breath. The voices stayed for a while, chattering oddly.

The voices ceased, as Sara exhaled, it was at that moment, she made a rather smart decision. She decided at that moment that the tree would be her bed for the night, even if it was uncomfortable, hard and breaking apart. But it was far easier than trying to set up a bed of leaves or trying to find civilization in the endless darkness.

And for the second time in the row that day, Sara fell, asleep, this time with fear of what the next day would bring.

The sunbeams pierced through Sara's eyes as she grumbled slightly. Though the grumbling wasn't from the big blue orb, but rather someone viciously shaking her.

Sara grumbled, she wondered if it had all been a dream, if she was waking up to an earthquake, still in her home with her computer and DVDs spread about. However that moment was dashed as she finally open her eyes, reveling an unfamiliar face.

A slender teen, he had black eyes and black mopy hair, he was wearing normal clothing, normal outside the fact there were multiple burn patches on it. However what was eerie about it, was the fact his face had a strange glee to it, as if he was looking at something amazing.

"Y-you're alive...thank god!" Sara felt a shiver run up her spine, the teen seemed a little to happy about that as Sara swallowed harshly.

She was weighing her options, wondering if she should scream or not. She didn't know if she would have made the situation worse or not, the teen looked disheveled as he put his hand out and smiled.

"Come on, I'll help you out," Sara frowned at his request, but remained silent, she had to be at least somewhat cautious unless she wanted to end up buried somewhere.

Sara slowly took his hand as she moved her shoulders, she was thankful that she wasn't wearing a T-shirt or shorts at the time, because a large amount of wood was caught in her sweater.

"_This might still be a dream, maybe a really long dream, but still a dream," _That was the excuse she decided on, it was the only way her brain was capable of wrapping itself around what is happening.

Sara slowly tapped her foot as the teen exhaled, it was obvious that he had been through a lot as he rubbed the back of his head, looking around slightly. "I'm glad that I was able to find another normal person around,"

Sara paused, Sara was tempted to point out everything wrong with that statement, but kept her mouth shut as the teen stopped for a moment, scanning Sara for a few moments, as if he was checking her clothing.

"You are from Earth... right?" The teen asked, as Sara fidgeted slightly, she didn't know if that was an insult or not.

Sara didn't have the best fashion sense, after all most of it was completely pointless since she rarely even left her house once her parents died. Most of the things she got she ordered online with little to no input from the outside world.

"I'm pretty sure I am..." Those were the first words that Sara said to the teen, as the teen gave a small sigh of relief.

However, the question was still odd to ask someone as Sara lips started to quiver, she wanted to ask something, but deep in her heart she didn't want to know the answer to it. Because it was all a dream anyway and it probably didn't matter.

"W-where are we?" Sara held herself, where was she and why was this strange teenager, what was those noises in the woods the previous night.

The teen simply looked towards the ground, he was silent, he could not even look straight into Sara's face as she started to shake, biting her lip and closing her eyes. She continued to speak, even if it was only a dream.

"I-I just want to go home...that's all, I don't care what you're doing, just tell me how to get home," She knew that he probably didn't have that kind of answer, but she wanted to know as he frowned.

"I...can't do that," He balled his fist, it seemed that even he was frustrated with the current situation as Sara stopped her foot, she leaned against a nearby tree.

"Why!" A sharp increase in hostility as Sara glared at the through her glasses, "You're in my dream, so you should listen to what I say, now tell me!"

The teen simply looked at Sara, he looked at the woman like she was crazy.

"Dream? This isn't a dream, and calm down, please..." His voice was calm, but it had a certain hint of fear to it, as if the noise Sara was making was the most dangerous things in the woods. Something Sara was capable of picking up on.

"No! I'll yell even louder if you don't tell me how to get home, or where we are! I don't care about anything else, I just want to go home!"

The teen took a deep breath, it seemed that he was going to risk sounding like an insane madman, but it was better than the alternative and dying a rather pitiful death because a girl couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"H-hey, have you ever heard of a place called the Fire Nation?" The teen smiled, hoping that he was stuck with someone that at least knew a sliver of information about the world they were currently stuck in.

Sara's blank stare reveled she had no idea what he was talking about, which made sense, the series was almost fifteen years old. And the person in front of him, looked no older than seventeen, maybe nineteen at max. The only reason he knew about the series was because of the old DVDs he had, then again he was probably far to obsessed with the series as it was.

"What state is that in?" Sara frowned as the teen simply blinked for a moment.

"Well, it's really not a state,"

Sara went pale for a moment, her heart skipping a beat. "D-don't tell me, I'm in some other country?!" It was an idea for a bad movie, sure watching someone going halfway around the world with crazy shenanigans was fun while you watched it, but the idea was appealing at all.

"Well...not exactly," It really wasn't something that could be explained in a sentence as Sara simply shook her head, before lifting herself up from the ground, her outfit covered with pieces of wood, leaves and branches.

She had enough, wherever she was, there had to be a way to get back home. It was times like these, is when she wished she slept with her ID or something to identify her, even if she was in a completely different country they probably could do something for her to get home.

"Where is the nearest town, or city..." Sara demanded her dream as the teen stopped for a moment wondering if he should answer.

"Listen, I know what you're thinking, and you will be captured or killed if you go there looking like that!" Once again it was an odd statement as Sara stomped her foot slightly, kicking up leaves, so far her dream was sucking.

"Why?! Why am I going to be killed, I didn't even do anything wrong, and now death is involved? All I wanted was a nice easy life and something like this happens? This isn't far at all!"

The teenager simply looked at Sara, she had every right to complain, from the looks of it, she wasn't even a fan the series, and yet she was stuck there. She didn't want to be a hero, she didn't want to meet the characters and have a romance, all she wanted to do was get home and sleep in her own bed.

"...Listen, I really don't know much, I barely know what's going on, I've only been here for about a day and things have been pretty bad for me lately as well," The teen closed his eyes thinking about the words he was going to say next.

"I know these probably means nothing coming from a stranger, but I promise you, no matter what I'll get you back home, even if I have to die, I'll get you home,"

Most girls would have found such a statement sweet, Sara just found it creepy. Mostly due to the fact he just met the guy and he was already willing to lay his life down for her, of course this was simply more proof this was a dream, still Sara had to ask.

"Why? You don't even know my name?"

The teen simply shrugged and gave a soft smile, "Well, isn't that what heroes do? Wanting to see everyone smile? If this is really awful for you, and if it's not your fault, then you shouldn't be the one who has to fix it."

The teen laughed slightly to himself, he really did sound like an idiot giving such a speech, but it was one that he believed to the bottom of his heart.

"You shouldn't have to fight, or hurt other people because of this...If getting home is the only thing you want, then nothing should be required of you. I'll handle everything from here alright,"

Despite giving such a convincing performance, Sara simply remained silent. If he was willing to do all the work, who was she to refuse? She wasn't particularly good at anything or had any skills that could help them out of a jam, nor was she prepared to learn any to get out of a situation that wasn't even her fault.

"Anyway, a guy should help a cute girl, especially one around his age," It seemed that the teenager was acting smug as Sara simply removed her glasses wiping them on her sweater, they were obviously getting foggy.

She had calmed down from her previous shouting and shaking bouts, as she took a deep breath.

"I'm 27," Sara eyes showed that she was somewhat insulted at the teenage assumption of her age as the teen's eye twitched slightly trying not to lose his smile.

"_N-no way, the way she was acting and how she looks...there's no way she's 27," _

The teen quickly shook his head, before moving on to a more important issue, such as names.

"Well, my name is Issac, what's yours?"

Sara held her breath, this could either be a good idea, or the biggest mistake in her life, then again there was always the possibility that everything was a dream anyway. Meaning that there was no harm giving a figment of her imagination her name,"

"Sara..."

**Author note**

**Yes, Sara really is 27, I tried to keep her age somewhat ambiguous in the first chapter. **

**Issac will be our second main character ****of**** this story, ****I'll probably just limit it to two.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Blue Eyes. **

Sara shivered, as she rubbed her hands together. It must have been winter where ever they were, as she continued to wait under the large tree. The colors in the forest were far more visible than before, perhaps it was because she finally finished whipping the tears from her eyes.

The sky was blue, and the sun was shining, as Sara continued to wait for the return of the teen. She didn't know why she was waiting, she simply was. The woman had nowhere else to go, so she simply sat there.

Her blood froze when she heard the sounds of the leaves being misplaced as she peeked around the corner. Sara let out a sigh when it was reveled to be Issac, carrying a pile of bland brown clothing with a rather large bag.

Sara frowned slightly at the sight. There were two sets, as Issac let out a slowly placed the clothes on a nearby stump.

"I managed to find these, there not much, but it will let us blend in more..." Issac gave a small smile as Sara frown stayed on her face, never leaving it once.

"_I suppose I should at least start explaining what I think happened..." _Think was a rather good word for it, honestly what Issac knew was barely above nothing. And that in itself was because he knew the series or at least the world they were stuck in.

"Um...so," Issac gave an awkward cough before continuing. "I guess I should explain a little about the world were in, I assume that you know about Avatar the Last Airbender as a series?" Issac asked as Sara simply stared at him, he was hoping that she had a little knowledge and history with their current situation.

"I know the series name, and I was planning on watching it, that's about it..." Sara response was irritating at best.

Issac knew full way even describing the series with cliff notes would have been a lengthy exercise. So it was probably best to give an even shorter version about the dangers of where they were.

"Just know the Fire Nation is bad, and you should avoid them..." Issac had to put it in simple terms like that. He really couldn't get into why, since that was a completely different story, but it seemed Sara knew the explanation was going to be a long one so she simply nodded her head.

"Anyway...you need to change clothing, we don't have to throw them away. We can keep them in this bag for now," Issac smiled as Sara's expression remained nearly stoic. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing as Issac coughed again.

"W-well, we're near an Earth Kingdom town, right near the boarder of Fire Nation colonies, so we should be fine if we change clothing and not draw too much attention to ourselves. My clothing got singed pretty badly on my way here though, just so you know I didn't land anywhere near a safe zone."

Thinking about it Sara, did notice that his shoes were a little worn out. He must have done a large amount of walking to get to where he was as Issac simply pointed towards the newly acquired lump of clothing that was on the nearby stump.

Sara frowned, she knew it was time to change clothing. Though she was somewhat hesitant, less because there was someone of the opposite gender watching, and more that it was far too cold to strip nearly naked.

"H-hey, isn't there a place that's a little warmer to do this?" Sara didn't like the idea of the chilly air touching her bare skin as Issac simply shook his head.

"Well, we can't go into town and change because if we did that than our odd clothing would be noticed. Well at least odd by this world's norm," Issac made a good point as Sara eye twitched. She never went camping let alone change clothes in the middle of the wilderness where bugs and other creatures may have a chance to attach themselves to her skin.

"_It's okay I guess, as long as I don't have to completely strip..." _Sara took a deep breath as she walked towards the stump, before she cut a look at Issac. It seemed that he didn't need much of a hint to walk behind a nearby tree.

It only took a few minutes for Sara to change out of her normal clothes as the dirt brown was easily the dullest looking thing she ever wore. Which was saying something since Sara really wasn't a fashion buff in any way.

Issac didn't say a word as he picked up his outfit and walked behind a nearby tree. Sara waited for a moment, before he changed into an equally mute colored attire. Though it probably looked far more natural on him than on her.

Actually in fact, Sara was almost positive that the clothing that Issac managed to get was for males specifically. As Issac crossed his arms as if he was thinking about something.

"_I really don't know what time in the series we landed in, we could go around asking people what the Avatar is doing. But even then that would be a pretty vague,"_ He knew that the world was still at war, but there were three season, one of which had a rather huge time gap between it and the others.

He didn't know if any of the villagers would know anything and even if they did know something how useful it would have been for finding Aang and the others. The only reason he wanted to find the Avatar, was so they could find a way home in the first place. Maybe help as many people along the way as possible.

"Hey...what are you thinking about?" Sara didn't like the idea of her dream people being in such a daze as Issac simply laughed slightly before shaking his head.

"No, that kind of just happens, come on, if we wait too long than they are going to be suspicious!" Issac tried to change the subject smoothly as Sara held her breath before giving a light shrug, she honestly didn't care what he was thinking. As long as she was able to get home and continue her life, everything else was extra.

The trek through the forest was a short one as Issac carried the bag containing their old clothing. As the trees became somewhat less thick, small buildings came into view. Low and made of stone as people walking around in rather particular clothing looked like the norm. Luckily there weren't any guards at the entrance to check their identity as Sara bit her lip.

She hated being around a large amount of people, even if there was only a few in the town she felt the moment she stepped into the area they would all stare at her. Yes staring, the same kind of looks people gave her before.

This was the very reason why it was so easy to lock herself in her room for days. People on a whole were annoying, at this very moment she just wanted to bite her arm. One person to talk to was enough, more than that just wanted to make her slam her head against a rock.

As they headed deeper into the small town, the dirt road under their feet Issac stopped for a moment. Before crossing his arms.

Despite acting as the guide up to that point, he actually had no idea where he was going or what to do. They were dropped in the middle of the world without much direction, they didn't even know the name of the town.

Though he guessed where they were wasn't important, but finding information about the Avatar was. Which brought up another problem, how were they going to ask for information and not appear awkward. It was bad enough that they had to change clothing not to appear as Fire Nation spies, but just randomly asking where the Avatar was or what he was doing would have just made people more suspicious.

Issac nearly screamed in frustration, it was a brick wall that could not be torn down. How was he going to ask a question like that without appearing odd.

Sara simply stood there, not making a move, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Even if it was a dream it was one that she really didn't want to be apart of, so being frozen like a statue was only natural.

Right as it appeared that they reached a dead end, something of interest caught Issac's eye, well closer to someone.

A girl in regular Earth Kingdom clothing wearing a hate that covered her hair. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about her, well nothing out of the ordinary except her eyes. Which were a deep blue, normally this wouldn't be cause for alarm, but her skin tone obviously didn't match what is required for blue eyes.

Normally in the world they were currently in, those with blue eyes were apart of the Watertribe, and as result had a darker skin tone. But the girl that was walking down the street tone was one closer to those in the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom.

Then again, Issac doubted that she was from either of those groups as he held his grip on the bag containing his and Sara's clothing as he started to follow the girl, paying little attention to the now confused Sara who was just standing in the street.

"H-hey," Sara frowned, if she moved from the spot or raised her voice she would have drawn attention to herself, but at the same time leaving things as is would have left her alone. Sara simply stood there looking like an idiot, something she was most likely going to have to get use to.

Issac heart raced, for some reason he was nervous, after all if he was wrong and the girl really was from the Avatar world, he was taking a huge risk in talking to her. But at the same time, if she was from their world, he simply couldn't let her go without helping her.

He needed to help everyone and make everyone smile, because that is what heroes do. If there was someone alone and needed help then that is what he was going to do no matter. No matter how stupid such thinking was.

The girl with the blue eyes stopped to examine something, as Issac nearly froze. This was his chance to speak to her, but if he was wrong he was going to enter a conversation with a complete stranger that might sound crazy, then again that might happen regardless where she was from.

"Um, hello," Issac gave a small smile as the girl turned to him and glared.

"What!" She snapped as if she was a clam snapping shut as Issac twitched slightly, to say he wasn't expecting such a hostile response would have been an understatement. Though it seemed that the girl realized her mistake as she gave a quick cough "I mean...hello,"

For some reason Issac felt that the second time was far less genuine than the first one as he shook his head before speaking. "Oh, it's just I was wondering if you were from around here?"

The girl's eyes narrowed from such a question, before she looked towards the bag and back at Issac again with a fake smile plastered on her face. "Why would you ask such a thing?"

Now she was just being fake as Issac couldn't help, but grumble. Though her false manners didn't necessary mean she wasn't from the world of Avatar, just that she was a really rude person.

"Well, it's just...that you really don't look like anyone from around here. I mean you have blue eyes and all," Now he just sounded creepy as the girl simply looked towards the ground with a small cough,

"My mother was from the Watertribe and my father was from the Earth Kingdom," It was a decent excuse, Issac didn't know how genetics worked and he doubted the people of the Avatar world knew either, still this neither disproved or proved she was from the current world.

"What's your name?"

"Why do you want to know?" The girl tone was blunt as Issac froze, he really didn't have a reason to ask something like that, and the entire conversation had been random. She could easily cut it off right then and there and he would never know if she was from his world or not.

Issac hand went near the bag, as his eyes cut around, there were other people on the street. But if he just flashed his and Sara's clothing... nothing bad would have happened, if it was just a corner of a pant leg or something.

Plus he wasn't getting anywhere playing 20 questions other than making the person in front of him suspicious.

So, he just took out a random shirt from the bag, only showing the collar and an arm. Keeping it hidden enough that the people around wouldn't be able to pinpoint that it was anything odd.

The blue eyed girl eyes widened, she was left speechless for a moment. Issac didn't know if it was because she recognized the clothing or just how odd they were compared to the clothing everyone else was wearing.

"I thought, I was the only one that was sent here..." It was somewhat eerie, the tone was a mixture of shock and almost bitterness, though Issac seemed to have missed the latter as he just smiled lowering his voice, but still keeping it's optimism.

"This is great, I didn't think we would find another person here, now if you can come with us it might be easier to find our way ho-" Issac didn't finish his statement as a glare cut him off, a glare and almost pure hatred coming off of the girl in front of him.

"Why would I want to go with a loser like you?" The blue eyed girl gave a small grumble before continuing. "I'm here for Aang and the others, not some nobody that is from a boring world,"

"_Yeah, that's right?" _The girl gave a small mental scoff before continuing her thought. _"This is my story, where I help Aang and the others with their journey and maybe fall in love with one or two of them. This is a story where I'm important and interesting not a story about boring people from my boring world,"_

Issac simply looked at the teenage girl, he shook off the insult as he started to speak. "But, it's pretty dangerous to just travel by yourself, even if you do know the series. I mean, do you even have any money, and a change of clothing?"

Issac really hated being the barer of bad news and hated even more being a kill joy. But there was a certain strength in numbers, and plus he wouldn't be able to sleep if he wasn't able to convince or help someone that needed it. Then again, if she wasn't interested in getting back he assumed she had some pretty twisted priorities.

Though it seemed Issac's words struck a nerve as the blue eyed girl looked at the ground.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was dirt poor, and she stole the clothes she was wearing at the moment.

"_Well, I guess in any story the main character uses useless characters as stepping stones to advance the plot. I'll just use this guy until I find Aang or Zuko, I mean as long as he doesn't try to show me up I don't care what he does."_

"Okay...I guess I'll hang out with you, you have money right?" The girl frowned as she placed her hands on her hips.

Issac eyes widened for a moment, he honestly had no idea really. He dug his hands into his pockets before his eye twitched. He felt what appeared to be a small bag of coins. It was strange he didn't noticed it before, but it was probably best if he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"I...guess so, by the way my name is Issac,"

The more Issac thought about it, the more he realized he probably needed an alias, his name wasn't very Asian sounding and it drew attention to him.

The blue eyed girl grumbled slightly, as if she was weighing the her options and wondering if she should even bother with introductions.

"Franziska Schultheiss, though I doubt and idiot like you would remember it," It seemed that Issac's assumption about her playing nice was true, considering how she casually spouted idiot, then again Issac already knew his feelings probably meant nothing to her.

"_Did she really need to give her full name like that, and it sounds German...Well I never spoke German so I'm just assuming," _

Then again Franziska wasn't the kind of person Issac would hang around in a normal circumstance. But either way, she needed help, and it was his policy to never turn away or ignore someone in need. After all he wouldn't be able to make people smile if he did.

**Author note**

**Really, the reason Franziska name is so long, was because I honestly wanted to pick the most German sounding name as I possibly could, mostly so the readers would know that she was German.**

**Also, I made Franziska as unlikable as I possibly could, did it work. Or are you guys still somewhat lukewarm to her.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Drive.**

How long had they been walking, it felt like their feet were about to fall off? They managed to stay at a cheap in for the night, but once again they were wandering out of town without much direction or focus.

They allowed Franziska to lead the way, but there seemed to be a problem, they were obviously making their way somewhere, but they actually didn't know where they were going. In fact the only reason Issac and Sara was following her, was because they simply assumed.

"Ah, Franziska do you know where we are headed?" Issac asked as he exhaled, they bought a modest amount of supplies, but he doubt it would last them long, and the money they had was nearly gone. They really couldn't afford to just be roaming around wasting energy and money.

"Of course...I mean I think, there aren't any guards around here...so we must be heading deeper into the Earth Kingdom," That is where they wanted to go, but there really didn't have any info on the entire thing, and they still didn't know which season they were in.

The only thing they could all hope for, was that they reached a town before night fall, and that was if they had enough money to stay some place. It was cold, and they still haven't figured out if it was winter or spring.

"Wait, that's it, all we need to do is ask the next person we see if it's winter!" Issac smiled as Franziska gave a small glare, as if she was prepared to question his methods.

"You idiot, what kind of question would that be?" Franziska adjusted her hat, Issac simply frowned, it seemed that she wasn't following his train of thought, he really didn't want to explain in detail though by the look on her face he was going to.

"Well, think about it, it would be pretty strange for three people to ask where the Avatar was, so while it would still be strange to ask which season it is. I think the answer would be simpler, if it's winter than it's season one, if it's spring than it's season two and if it's summer than it's season three."

"I-I knew that, I'd probably would have came up with it by myself sooner or later," Franziska grumbled, she felt like she was being upstaged as Sara simply looked at the two.

Sara remained mostly silent, she was good at push attention away from herself. She mostly wanted to be left alone, and from the looks of it, the two teenagers in front of her were willing to make every major decision for the group, and she was perfectly okay with that.

Sara wasn't there to have an adventure or make friends, she just wanted to get home. Perhaps that made her a dull person, but at the end of the line, she would most likely be the one with the least amount of scars.

"We'll just ask some people once we reach the next town..." Franziska bit her thumb, the more she thought about it, the more she realized she herself didn't know where she was going. Of course she wouldn't let anyone else know she was just as blind as them.

So they kept walking, through the trail with little signs of life, through this cold day unknown to anything. They still had plenty of time before they reached anywhere important or before night fell, it seemed now would be a perfect time to explain to Sara what world they were in and how it worked.

"So...I bet you still have a lot of questions, huh?" Issac laughed, his feet still moving, his head turned slightly towards the older woman as she looked towards the ground.

"Well, I guess it would be really helpful..." Sara said, of course getting the attention of Franziska.

"Huh? What kind of questions could you possibly have, you have seen the series right?" Franziska grumbled slightly, deep in her mind she already knew the answer Sara was going to give.

"No...I actually never saw the series," Sara admitted as Franziska rolled her eyes.

"Great, now she's just going to be dead weight, why are you even here if you never saw the series? Someone obviously made a mistake if you are here," Franziska didn't feel like babysitting anyone, it was bad enough she had the loser boy there with her, but now she just figured out that the glasses girl was just there.

Sara didn't responded quickly, she really didn't have a response because Franziska was completely correct. There was no reason why she was there, she would rather be anywhere else than where she was at that very moment.

"Never mind, I don't need to know anything, I just want to get home..." Sara adjusted her glasses, her knowing more about the world she was in wasn't going to make it easier to get home. Plus if Issac and Franziska knew about it, they didn't need a third person.

"H-hey," Issac spoke up, it was obvious that none of them were getting along especially well, then again they were complete strangers that had no idea about each others past. They were nothing more than people that were stuck together though an unfortunate event, but still...

"We should still try to help her learn a little about it, I mean if you were stuck at a place you had no knowledge of you'd be confused or scared. If we're traveling with her, isn't it our responsibility to make sure she knows at least the basics?" Perhaps it was just in his nature, but Issac simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to help someone.

"No...it's not my job to tell her anything, if she doesn't want to learn anything that's her own problem not mine. I'm not going to recount information that everyone should know just because she didn't watch the series when she could."

Silence, as Issac sighed rubbed his head, there wasn't anything he could do, but keep walking though the trail. It was unsettling, there was nothing there...just three people walking to an unknown location following a teenage girl who didn't really have any idea where they were going.

Minutes turned to hours, there really wasn't much difference in their locations. It almost seemed like they were just walking endlessly down a stretch of land with no conclusion. It was around this point, a deep feeling of realization befell Franziska.

"_We might really have to camp out tonight." _They didn't really have much in the way of sleeping bags, and the sun was dangerously close to setting. A decision would need to be made soon, if they were going to set up camp, now would have been the best time, but if they were close and continued non stop they might still make it to town.

"Maybe we should stop for the night," Issac said look at his bag, and as well as Sara who was starting to lag behind them, they had been walking for quite a bit without stopping. Normal people obviously would have been tired at that point.

"We'll stop when I say we stop, and the sun hasn't even gone down all the way yet, why should we stop now!" Franziska snapped, she knew it was the most logical thing to do, but she couldn't let Issac of all people make that decision.

Issac frowned biting his lip, really he didn't feel like arguing, his best bet was simply to use logic. "If we wait until it gets dark then we'll have to set up everything in the dark, plus it seems the further we go the less forest there is. Making a random stop out in the open will just attract more attention for us to get attacked..."

Of course Issac was just making assumptions, he was more concerned about Sara who looked like she was about to fall out than random bandits attacking them, but still his points still stood as Franziska eye twitched slightly as she crossed her arms.

"No...I don't care, I want to keep going," Franziska paused for a moment, as she held her breath. Stopping was really a good idea, but she couldn't be wrong and so she continued to disagree even if she knew that it was wrong.

"Then maybe we should take a vote? If you want to stop for the night and make camp, raise your hand." Issac rose his hand as Sara slowly raised hers as well, Franziska gave a glare towards the two, before grumbling.

Arguing would just make her lose her cool, and plus Issac was the one carrying the bag. She knew it was for the best, but still she couldn't help but feel like it was an attack on her person as she sat on the shaded ground with leaves all around.

"Fine then, set up camp...I don't care," Issac smiled as Franziska adjusted her hat, a small ginger bang came out.

"_I guess that's why she's wearing a hate, red heads really aren't a common thing, I guess she didn't want to draw attention to it." _Issac set down their small bag, there were clothes and food in the knapsack, allowing them to set up their food without setting it on the ground.

There was bread and some dried meat, it was enough for about four people so they were going to have some leftovers. Sara frowned slightly, she usually wasn't a picky type of person for food, but she still wanted something with a little taste.

Of course Franziska took Sara's thoughts and voiced them in the rudest possible way. "Idiot, couldn't have gotten something that at least resembled food and what do we have to drink?" Franziska asked another good question as Issac pulled out what appeared to be a canteen.

"Okay...so where the cups?" Franziska pointed out as Issac gave a nervous laugh, he was obviously going to give a decent excuse.

"Well, that cost extra, so we either have to drink from the same canteen or use our hands,"

Sara sighed, she wasn't fond of sharing the canteen, but she didn't mind using her hands. Better than the chance of backwash. She then took a small bite of her breed, realizing that this was her dinner. Even if she lived alone and usually only microwaved things, she still had bigger portions than what was before her.

'"You expect me to use my hands? That's disgusting, even my hands get a little dirty," Franziska took a bite out of the dried meat and shivered, it was completely different than beef jerky, the only thing similar was the texture. It really just tasted like a piece of dried meat without any flavor, almost like rations.

"Well, since it's going to get cold tonight, we should probably start a fire," Issac did his best to ignore Franziska's comment as he clustered up a large amount of dead leaves and two sticks. Of course he was going to try something simple.

"_Um, now how does this go again?" _Issac made a cross with the sticks and quickly rubbed them together, he saw it enough enough movies to simply assume that it would work. But after a three minutes of the exact same motion nothing came up.

"Gah, you're useless, let me try!" Franziska snapped as she took the two sticks away from Issac, she then started to do a similar motion, but even faster.

Her lips twitched, it seemed like she was about to be embarrassed as she continued for over five minutes, with no fire whatsoever. Both Sara and Issac staring at her, no doubt they were judging her inability to do such a simple task.

"Hey...Franziska-"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She nearly screamed as a small burst of flames came from the pile of leaves as Sara covered her eyes with her hands as Issac held his breath, not moving a muscle. They weren't the only ones that were surprised at the sudden as Franziska simply looked at the newly created flame.

It was a bewildered look on her face, confusion mixed with intrigue, her blue eyes reflected off of the fire before her lips curved into a smile. "Hah, I guess I'm better than I expected, did you see that I fire bent!"

Despite her joy, Franziska was still breathing rather hard, still shacking. Was it out of fear or anticipation to try it again,

Sara slowly removed her hands from over her eyes as. "Fire Bent?" She never heard of such a term as Issac held his breath.

"T-that's amazing, so why don't you calm down a little," The threat of starting a forest fire was very real. He just hoped that Franziska would just calm down and not try again.

"Shut it! I can do what I want, don't tell me to calm down!" Franziska said those words rather bluntly as she prepared to try to Fire Bend, Issac didn't know much about the style which Firebending used, but Issac knew it was dangerous for many reasons.

Franziska whipped her hands around, but nothing came from it, her joy quickly turned to frustration as she took a deep breath, she already had one outburst, she couldn't let the people around her think she was unhinged...even if the only two people there were a couple of nobodies.

"Well, even if I don't know how to do it on a whim, it's better than having two dead weights around, though I wished I got something I could be a little more free with. Like a Waterbender or a Airbender, Firebending is rather boring, plus I'll have the idiots of the Earth Kingdom chasing me if I do it out in the open, how annoying."

Issac let out a sigh of relief, it seemed that Franziska was satisfied with her current standing. It seemed she had some self control, as he looked at the newly created flame. Even if it was by mistake she did make the fire for them, though he doubted she needed thanks as the new Firebender looked at her hands.

Sara simply remained silent, simply being happy that she was no longer in danger, and no longer running the risk of dying before she got back home. That was the only thing that was important to her, whether it was a dream or not, she needed to get back to her vacation.

Franziska simply smiled to herself, _"I'm...not normal...I'm not like all the boring people like those losers back at home, I'm not like all those useless people I walk past on my way too or from school," _And that was enough for her...at least for now.

**Author note**

**Hey character interaction is important, I wanted to show what being with complete strangers would be like. How people act with one another, and how they can change their attitude depending on who they are with and the circumstance. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Coldness.**

The Fire had long since been put out, as Issac grumbled slightly, he felt a pressure on his as if a foot was on his back...Actually upon further regaining his composure, it really was a foot on his back.

"Eh, wake up...it's getting cold and I want to get moving," Franziska gave a harsh demand as Issac rubbed his head, lifting himself from the ground and moving his hair out of his eyes. He looked over to where Sara was sitting, the woman was adjusting her glasses giving rather heavy sighs.

Either she was tired, or she was disappointed that she wasn't home, perhaps a little bit of both. Issac exhaled as a fine mist escaped his mouth, it was still cold and despite the rude awakening Franziska was right, they really needed to find the next town.

Issac, got up and checked the small bag, there really wasn't that much food left...and they didn't have any money. There were three of them, so finding a small or odd job to do to get money wouldn't have been impossible.

And then there was Franziska...

"Hey...um Franziska, could you not fire bend around other people. We're in the Earth Kingdom and it would be pretty bad if someone saw us," He knew he probably sounded like he was nagging, but they really couldn't afford to get captured. They really didn't have the tools to break out of any place.

Franziska frowned as she adjusted her hat, her blue eyes narrowing. "Like I said before, I can do what I want, plus I'm not so stupid to use my fire bending in front of useless nameless characters. The fact that you guys got to see it should have cost you,"

Well at least she wasn't just going the start lighting things on fire, Issac then turned his attention to Sara who was now getting up and brushing her clothing off. She closely examined her glasses as she removed the leaves that were stuck in the lens before putting it back on.

Thinking about it, it would be horrible of her glasses broke since from what Issac understood glasses were pretty rare, and finding someone to fix them would be rather difficult.

"Hey, Sara, you're okay?" Issac said as Sara simply nodded, slowly curving her lips into a smile. It felt like an empty smile. It is strange, it seemed she was actually taking the entire situation far worse than anyone else there.

"Stop yapping, and get up. It's like none of you have woken up early morning before," It seemed that Franziska had already started walking as Sara got up, it seemed that they were ready for another long trip through a long pointless trail.

Silence was the worst thing ever, the trees were gone and they were just on an empty dirt road. It seemed traveling then was less dangerous and just tiring, most likely excusing the lack of other travelers on the road.

Franziska grumbled, it had been less than an hour since they started walking and it seemed that the ginger haired girl was already annoyed with the walking. They thought they were close to a town, but it seemed they had a decent ways to go.

So if there was nothing on the road, they had to speak with one another, to at least fend off the boredom.

"_Well, they're here to keep me entertained, might as well use them," _Franziska mouth twisted before uttering some words before finally breaking down and speaking.

"I'm surprised...I learned English in school, but American's knowing German is pretty rare," Franziska gave a veiled complement as both Sara and Issac gained a confused look on their face. As if what she just said didn't make any sense.

"Ah...what are you talking about? You've been speaking English this entire time," Issac pointed that out as Franziska eye twitched. She knew the difference between the two languages and German was not English, other than the similar symbols used they were different.

"Eh...what is wrong with you two? I knew people of your stature were stupid, but not so stupid that they don't know what language they were speaking, whatever. I guess this is what happens when you go to public school,"

"Actually, I went to private school too," The brown haired woman pointed out as Franziska grumbled, no doubt she simply said that because she wanted to upstage her as Franziska adjusted her hat.

"Really? Well, I have to say I look amazing in my school uniform," Honestly, Franziska couldn't stand her uniform, less because of how it looked, and more due to the fact that she had to wear it most of the week, she was glad that her high school life would be over in a few more months.

Still, no matter what. She couldn't let anyone one up her, after all Franziska's worth was determined on what she could do and nothing more. Everyone's worth was determined on what they could and couldn't do, and some people were made to be stepping stones for others greatness.

"_I will not be some stone that more important people use, I'm going to be the one stepping on others," _It was a strange train of thought that the teenage girl entered into, as she shook her head. How stupid, how pointless and meaningless, and surprisingly Franziska felt even worse thinking about the entire thing.

"Eh! Hey...I think I see a town," Sara's words snapped Franziska out of her thoughts, they were walking on an incline up to that point, Over the hill there was a simple habor town, with a familiar air around it. It had to be a port town since it had boats along with...well ports.

Issac frowned slightly, he recalled the town before...but the name wasn't something he could say, or actually recall, Issac rubbed his head and snapped his fingers. "Hey...isn't that the port town that Aang and the others stop at during the storm?"

He recalled the episode as Franziska's permanent scowl turned into a rather large grin. Her mind sharpened, soon she would be completely away from the two failures that were standing by her.

"Ah...finally I get to meet Aang," Franziska wanted to squeeze herself, her adventure was about to truly begin as she nearly ran towards the town causing Issac to flinch, it wasn't a large town so there probably wasn't any guards...but still.

"Sara, we have to follow, her I won't be able to forgive myself if she gets hurt," Issac knew it was an odd thing to say, though he would have said it about anyone that was with him. After all, he promised them all that he would get them back home...no matter how irritating they were at some points.

With a brisk jog, they followed Franziska into the small harbor town.

The town itself was far larger than what Franziska had first imagined, perhaps her perception was screwed to the how little of the area was shown in the show, but rows upon rows of brown buildings with green roofs entered her field of vision. Some atop hills and others are the flat stone ground.

Of course the port was visible, but the girl with the hat had no idea where to start looking in the large town, there was actually a decent amount of people walking around as well.

"_Damn, I guess I can check the port for that worthless old man," _Franziska rubbed her head, but before she could do any of that she heard the annoying footsteps of roadblocks, no doubt it was Sara and Issac.

"Hey...do you really think it's alright for you to run off like that?" For some reason Issac's concern and attitude made Franziska irritated, he was acting all big and bad when he knew less about the situation than she did.

"_What is up with this idiot, can't he take a hint that he isn't needed?" _Franziska grumbled as Issac looked around the area.

"Well, I guess this is an alright place to start looking for information, first we should find out if Aang has been here first," Issac said as Franziska rolled her eyes, she then looked around the area, and from the corner of her eye she saw a woman who was in her early twenties. Usually such a situation would require some subtle, but since the town was small, just flat out asking probably wouldn't do much damage.

So the girl put on her best smile, as she almost skipped towards the woman. Obviously she was going to have to put up an appearance, at least until she got the information out of the brown haired woman. Issac and Sara weren't too far behind as Franziska spoke.

"Excuse me madam, but could you please tell us if the Avatar has been through this town?" It was a little blunt as the woman eyes widened before she laughed moving her hair slightly.

"Oh, the rumors about the Avatar returning right? I've heard about them, but I don't think he's been through this town, then again I doubt he would stop at a backwater town like this," She chuckled, a small empty chuckle as Franziska simply nodded as she dragged both Issac and Sara away for a moment.

"Eh...Aang hasn't come by here yet...what a worthless waste of time," Franziska whispered, nearly biting her lip as Issac paused for a moment, they needed more details, but from what he could gather.

"If Aang and the others haven't been here yet, then it's probably season one, plus we can just wait for them in this town..." Issac really didn't know if the plan was any good as Franziska gave a small scoff, she hated the fact that he thought of something.

"I...guess that's a decent idea, but we need to find a place to stay until then. I'm not going to sleep outside like trash," Franziska always had to be harsh as Issac gave a small sigh before turning back to the woman.

Of course he was going to thank her, but before he could he noticed the worried expression across the woman's face...And as a hero it was his job to help anyone and everyone they saw that needed assistance no matter how small.

"Um, is something wrong?" Issac asked as the woman eye twitched before she gave a nervous laugh.

"Oh...nothing really, not something kids should worry about," Usually the conversation would have ended there, but Issac simply shook his head, causing Franziska to give him a harsh glare.

"Well, we might not be of much help, but we can at least try," The woman paused for a moment, before giving a small sigh.

"It's actually pretty embarrassing, I was working on the roof of my house because it was a little weak, when I slipped off. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but my engagement ring fell off and got stuck on the roof. What's worse is the roof is too weak, for me to step on without falling through," The woman's face turned a slight red before continuing.

"It cost a lot of money for someone to repair it, and a bird or something might take it before I get enough to pay for it,"

It sounded like a rather complicated problem, as Issac crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Before he grinned, he probably looked rather silly, but he couldn't help but smile at the chance of helping someone.

"I don't think I can fix the roof, but I'll happily get the ring back for you,"

The woman paused for a moment, wondering if she should accept the free help, after all it was still dangerous and she really disliked the idea of kids being hurt no matter the reason. Still, the ring was important enough to risk others safety over...just not her own.

"Well, if you really want to, I'll show you to my house," The woman clasped her hands together as she walked forward, she was heading back the way she came as Issac let out a sigh of relief, however before he could start walking he felt someone grip his arm rather tightly.

"What was that...we don't have time to waste on useless people," Of course it was Franziska, as Issac winced, thinking it about it further it probably would have been a waste of time to both Sara and Franziska.

"Don't you agree?" Franziska turned to Sara who looked towards the ground and adjusting her glasses, she was obviously trying to stay as neutral as possible in the discussion as the orange haired girl scoffed before turning back to Issac.

"Listen, idiot, we don't have time to help every little person you come across...some just aren't worth the time. The only time you should help strangers is if it makes you look good, and as you can see. Other than me, there is no one important watch, so what you're doing is as worthless as the people you're helping,"

Issac paused for a moment, he wanted to tell her she was wrong, but didn't see the point of it. She had her view and he has his, even if helping someone was ultimately pointless he would still would try to do it.

"I'm helping, you guys can find a place to stay or come and help..." Issac words were surprisingly blunt, as he quickly followed the woman before he lost sight of her, leaving Sara and Franziska to make their own decisions.

Franziska wanted to scream, not only did he ignore everything she said, but he was still going through with helping a completely worthless person. Now if it was Aang or Katara she could understand, they were main characters, but a nobody deserved to be ignored completely.

The blue eyed teen then turned her attention to Sara, who seemed rather twitchy.

"You want to follow him, don't you?" The words were blunt as Sara coughed slightly as Franziska rolled her eyes,"Man, you really are like a dog, fine, but after this we will not have anymore interruption!"

The house wasn't large, it was just like any other. Brown foundation with a green roof as a giant ladder was leaned against it, the brown haired woman held her breath. Issac was already climbing up to the roof as Sara and Franziska looked at the idiot.

"_I guess this isn't so bad, I've climbed trees before, so this isn't really a big deal," _Issac sighed as he put he pulled himself up. The moment his body was on the roof, was the moment he realized just how frail it was. It barely felt like it could support the weight of a ball, let alone a person.

Issac spread his body to avoid putting too much weight in one area. As he crawled about the area, thinking about it he probably looked like an idiot. After a few moment, he saw a small metal object. It was a ring, a very basic ring at that.

Perhaps he just wasn't use to seeing a ring without a diamond on it, then again the town he was in didn't seem that grand, perhaps such a simple ring was worth it to the people there.

Issac smiled as he reached out his hand and grabbed the important item, it overall didn't seem too bad. Now he simply had to get back to the ladder and give the woman the ring, it was as simple as that...

Well it would have been simple if it wasn't for the creaking sound that Issac heard, his expression remained stilted, as if his mind was just now understanding what was about to happen. _"Oh, I'm about to fall through the floor," _

So, Issac did, a section of the roof collapsed as the three woman froze for a moment. They didn't even scream as they ran into the house.

There were pieces of wood scattered about, though it seemed it wasn't enough to cover the teen as Issac winced slightly before moving, the woman looked at him for a moment examining his body, Sara face turning pale, but it seemed Issac was more concerned about something else.

"Where is it," Issac eye twitched as he began moving boards as Sara slowly lifted her hand.

"I-Issac," Her voice was shaking, as Franziska grumbled slightly and the nameless woman covering her face.

After a moment of moving more boards, Issac smiled and pulled out a small silver ring and handed it to the woman, the woman held her breath it seemed she wasn't concerned about her ring anymore.

"Issac, your arm," Sara frowned.

Issac simply blinked, he still had both of his arms, he knew that much as he looked at his left arm. _"Oh...I guess I'm bleeding," _There was a large gash on his arm.

It was at this point that both Sara and Franziska realized just how scary a person that values everyone else over themselves was.

**Author note**

**Rushed the ending, then again not really a lot of things happened in this chapter. I guess this story is really slow.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**The Final of the Four.**

Franziska grumbled at the sight, it was his fault that Issac got hurt in the first place, but yet both Sara and the other woman were walking beside him...making sure he was okay. They already bandaged his arm, and taking him to a healer...why was he getting so much attention.

"_This is stupid, it's his own fault for helping worthless characters," _The ginger haired girl bit her lip as she walked behind the other three.

"I'm sorry I let you do that, no ring is worth your well-being," The woman sighed as Issac winced. The entire point of getting her ring back was to make her feel better, not to make her feel like garbage, the teen paused for a moment before laughing.

"Like I said before, it's no big deal. Worse things have happened to me, I doubt it will even leave that big of a scar. I'm just happy that I managed to get your ring back," Perhaps he said the wrong thing, as the woman mood degenerated even further.

"Um, I'm just happy you aren't too hurt, I get kind of weak around blood." Sara rubbed the back of her head as the woman stopped walking. The three looked at the building before them, it was around the same size of every other building in the town.

Though it had a certain ominous feeling to it, moody was the term some would use as Issac felt a shiver crawl up his spine. This place wasn't a good place at all, it looked normal but there was just something off about the entire situation was somewhat distorted.

"_This place...just doesn't feel," _Issac twitched slightly, it seemed that both Sara and Franziska had a similar feeling. It didn't take anyone special to feel what they feeling, just a basic understanding of self preservation.

There was no doubt about it, there was something wrong with the building in front of them.

"W-well, I'll be going home and fixing my roof," The woman laughed nervously, it seemed even she was somewhat frightened at the imposing building. She waved at the two teens and Sara as the three held there breath.

"_I could just not go in," _Sara gave it a thought, she could speak up, but she then looked at Issac's arm. He was still bleeding and none of them really had the skills or talent to wrap it up or clean it. Plus Issac was the person who promised her that he would get them home, the least she could do was not be a complete coward and go in with him.

"We are actually going into a place like this? Are you two idiots? Or do you want to die that badly?" Franziska snapped as Issac took a deep breath.

Thinking about it more, it really wasn't fair to ask them to go into a place for his sake. Especially if it was his fault that he was hurt to begin with.

"You guys don't have to go in if you don't want to, I don't think it will take that long," Issac responded as Sara simply shook her head.

"No...I mean, I don't mind plus I want to see a healer, I still don't know much about this world still so..." Sara didn't really think of herself as the type to gain information, but if she was going to be stuck there might as well not be an ignorant idiot.

Franziska grumbled as she put her hand on her hips. "Hey, hey, hey! Are you guys trying to make me look bad or something, trying to act so brave? Eh, fine I'll go in, you better be grateful!"

Sara simply sighed as she knocked on the wooden door. There was a moment of silence, as the door slowly cracked open before a figure stepped out.

It was a man, probably in his early thirties looking down at the three far shorter persons. He had short brown hair and brown eyes, he was wearing black and brown. Looking at it, he dressed far differently than most people in the Earth Kingdom.

He scanned the three, his eyes looking almost empty, just being around this man made the three feel heavy. Like stones were tied to their organs and they were being forced too the ground as he smiled slightly, obviously he noticed Issac's injury.

"Please, come in," The man opened the door as the main room was nothing but chairs and a table. There was a small bucket of water, near what appeared to be a small bed. The man simply pointed to the bed before speaking.

"Sit there, I will see you in a moment," His voice was plain as Issac simply walked towards the bed both Sara and Franziska watch as the man walked into the back of his home before coming out with what appeared to be a small cup of water.

"I already used the water near the bed earlier today, and plus this should be enough..." The man walked towards Issac who was prepared to unwrap the bandages.

"That won't be necessary, I should be able to do it through the bandage," The man dipped his hands in the water and touched Issac's forearm. The teen felt a certain relief fall over his arm, the pain was slowly fading away as the man lifted his hand, Issac's arm still had water on it.

"You should be able to finish the rest yourself..." Issac eye twitched, what did he mean by that, the man expression didn't change remaining completely neutral.

"Ah...I'm not a doctor," Issac frowned as the man gave a harsh sigh.

"No, you know what I mean..." The main continued to look at Issac's arm as Issac raised his brow.

"_He doesn't mean..." _Issac remained silent as he looked at his arm, the idea that he was a waterbender was hilarious let alone a healer. _"Plus, I'm pretty sure most healers in the series were girls anyway...right?" _Then again, the man in front of him was a healer, so perhaps.

Issac took a deep breath, as he touched the water that was still on his arm, it started to glow as a mixture of fear and excitement. This meant he was a waterbender and a healer, which was odd, he knew that Franziska was a bender, but he never imagined that he was going to be one as well.

Sara simply tilted her head as Franziska eye twitched before the man smirked slightly. "I see, so I was correct, from the looks of it you three aren't from this town,"

They all collectively swallowed harshly, hopefully he wouldn't press the matter any further and just assume they were foreigners. As the man continued to speak. "By the way, my name is Laoshi," The man smiled.

Despite the help he gave, Issac couldn't get over the feeling of absolute dread he was feeling from the man. It was odd, it wasn't the slimy feeling, but rather, the person before him represented something else. If things were a little different, Issac felt like he could actually look up to the person before him if things were different.

"Ah...Thank you, Laoshi," Issac coughed slightly as he got off the bed, Sara and Franziska walked up to him. Franziska giving Issac the most hateful glare possible as the man slowly bent the water away from Issac before he closed one of his eyes.

"Do any of you have any place to go? You are welcome to stay here with me until I leave," It was either a random gesture of kindness or he had some ulterior motive. Either way Issac wasn't going to accept such a thing, even if he was going to have to decide for the whole group.

"Really, that's great!" Issac eye twitched as Sara gave a large smile, it seemed that before the teen could say anything Sara stated that bluntly as Issac winced a little.

"I-I mean, we don't want to be a burden," Issac tried to make an excuse, though they really didn't have anywhere else to go, Issac just really didn't want to be around the man named Laoshi. Though it seemed that Franziska was weighing the options herself as the ginger haired girl crossed her arm.

"Well, I guess it's fine for a few days, until we get some money and leave the town," Issac cursed to himself, it seemed that it was already decided as the man smiled, it seemed that he was happy to have guest. Even if they were quite a bit younger than he was.

"Very well...I shall make preparations for your rooms, please make yourselves at home until I am finished," Laoshi gave a small bow before walking away. Despite all of the negative feelings that Issac had towards that man, he had to admit he was quite polite.

The man disappeared to one of the many halls in the back, it seemed that the building was far large on the inside than the outside, or at least it felt that way. In fact, the entire building felt off, things were off centered and nothing was perfectly laid out despite it being rather tidy. Every single thing had a disheveled air around it, almost having an otherworldly feel.

It was uncomfortable, though perhaps it was only Issac that noticed that as the two woman that were with him were on the opposite ends of the room. Sara sitting down in one of the many free chairs and Franziska standing next to the window looking outside. It was probably nearing the end of midday with the sun preparing to set.

"_I guess I'll talk to Sara first," _Honestly, it was far to difficult to have a conversation with both of them. _"No...that's wrong," _Issac hated being the kind of person to think such a thing, but he really found it difficult to talk to Franziska. She was kind of mean, though it was probably because they were still pretty much strangers to one another.

Issac walked up to Sara and gave a small smile as Sara sighed, it seemed that it was a rather long day...then again everyday had been a long day since they got there. _"_Hey you feeling alright?" Issac asked that as Sara gave a small pout, as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"I'm the one who should be asking that, is your arm any better?" Sara asked with genuine concern, as Issac smiled. It was nice to have someone worry about you, though Issac did feel a slight piece of guilt, since anyone worrying about him meant he was failing as a hero.

"It didn't even hurt!" Issac lied, a hero can't have anyone worrying about him no matter what as Sara adjusted her glasses.

"Well, just be careful alright, I don't want you to get hurt because of something as small as a ring," Sara scratched the back of her head. It was weird, Sara was usually quite, but it seemed that she didn't mind talking a little. Though perhaps they were just a little more use to one another.

"...Issac, can we really get home?" It was a jarring question that completely shifted the mood of the conversation as Issac sat in the chair next to her, but before he could answer Sara continued her statement, or rather retracted it.

"No...that is too much to put on someone, sorry you're the one who should be asking me that, after all I'm the adult here. No matter how pathetic I am at it," Sara grabbed her head and looked at the floor, Issac wanted to say something, but he really couldn't think of anything.

"I really do want to go home you know, even if we can't I want someone to lie to me and say that we can. I rather be lied to and be happy, than know the truth and be crushed," Sara exhaled slightly as Issac simply blinked. It was odd, but it really wasn't something that Issac could agree with.

"Really? I think knowing the truth should be above anything, isn't an old saying...that the truth will set you free?" It was rather stock, but Issac heard it before, truth was one of the things that can't be changed in the world. Truth was something that he thought people always looked and strive for.

Sara simply looked at Issac, a blank expression before she gave a light smile. "I'm sorry Issac, but isn't that a middle school like thing to say?"

Issac eye twitched, before Sara continued.

"Thinking that you must know everything and anything, to think that knowing the truth about that will make you happy. I think it's kind of childish, I mean there are plenty of things you are better off not knowing. Like what's inside a hotdog, or how many germs are on a bus seat and all those bugs in and on your bed at night. Yeah, I know for a fact, that it's a balance between truth and lies is what makes up our world. A lie can be just as helpful as the truth," It was a rather long winded explanation, though Issac could understand where she was getting at.

"Of course, this was just me speaking as and adult," Sara said with a shrug as she put her hands on her cheek.

Up to this point, Issac never really thought Sara was the one for deep thoughts, but yet here she was saying something that actually made him think a little. Issac sat up, as he crossed his arms, there really wasn't much more to say about the situation. "I'm going to talk to Franziska a little bit," Issac got up leaving Sara to her thoughts.

Issac looked at the blue eyed girl who was looking at the sun setting, he really didn't know how to approach her. Though, she was just going to give him an insult so it was better to just get the first part over with than trying to drag it out.

"Hey...Franziska," Issac shoved his hands into his pockets, thinking about it more he was actually starting to miss his casual clothing. Though they were burnt a bit, thinking more about it, if they did meet up with Aang, maybe it would be safe for them to actually put them back on.

Franziska turned to face him with a glare...thinking about it, she had been glaring at him ever since he got his arm healed.

"Ah, did I do something?" Issac was truly concerned about such a thing, after all if Franziska was how she was when she was in an indifferent mood, he would hate to see her in a bad mood.

"No...it's just that things haven't been up to my expectations, first I get stuck with losers like you. Then I find out you're a waterbender, things are just getting worse and worse," Issac frowned at Franziska comment, he was glad that he was a waterbender, but Franziska somewhat ruined his excitement.

"Yeah, sorry that we aren't to your expectations..." Of course Issac was being sarcastic as Franziska bit her lip.

"Hey, don't catch an attitude with me, if you two weren't so awful then I wouldn't be so mean. Also, don't get any ideas, just because you're a bender doesn't mean anything. I'm still the star of this show, so don't try to outshine mean!"

Issac sighed, he really didn't know what she meant by that. Though it seemed that portion of their conversation was over as Franziska adjusted her hat one more time before turning to face Issac preparing to talk about more pressing matters.

"So...do you really trust this guy, I mean it's kind of odd that he just lets us hang here?" Issac brought up that point as she gave a small shrug.

"Eh...as long as he's not a pervert, I really don't care. He's just another stepping stone to get what I want and where I want. After all, normal people are just stepping stones for the gifted and extraordinary, whether it be in this world or our world it just how it works." It was a rather depressing way to think about such things as Issac sighed.

He knew he was going to regret asking, but he wondered what her dream or plan was exactly.

"What do you want," Issac said as Franziska smiled, perhaps it was because it was time to finally talk about herself.

"Simple, I want to go with Aang and the others to save the world, and maybe find true love along the way? Maybe someone like Zuko, or Sokka. Even Jet would be pretty good if you know what I'm saying," Issac frowned slightly, Franziska was so focused on doing something or being with someone important she was missing the entire point of their journey. It was to get home, sure it was possible to have fun along the way, but they shouldn't miss the whole point of it.

Before Issac could speak again footsteps were heard from the back as the man known as Laoshi appeared before them.

"Your rooms are ready..."

Nothing much happened after that, they all just waited until night fell as they each got their own rooms. There was enough rooms that each of them got their own, to much of Franziska's pleasure. They were going to be staying until either Aang and his friends show up, or Laoshi actually decided to leave the town.

So that night was completely and utterly uneventful right down to the moment Issac closed his eyes and let sleep take him. The next morning was a little more eventful.

Issac eyes twitched as he felt someone shake him, considering it wasn't a foot impeded in his back, it probably was Sara waking him up him up.

"W-what is it?" Issac grumbled slightly as he lifted himself from the small bed that he was given, slowly rubbing his eyes to be greeted with someone with a rather concerned face.

"You need to come to the main room right now." Sara said, as she bit her thumb, it really seemed like a big deal as Issac grumbled slightly, lifting his heavy feet from off the bed and onto the floor.

Sara with Issac dragging behind, walked through the halls of the house and into the main room. Seeing both Franziska and Laoshi standing over the bed used for healing, or what some called operation. Though that wasn't the only thing that was in the room as Issac heart skipped a beat when he noticed someone on the bed.

Her eyes were closed, but she had somewhat pale skin, she had black hair tied in twin tails. Not the normal kind of twin tails however, they were huge, each side being about the size of a normal haircut. There was small decorations in them, one being a pin and the other being a ribbon.

She had long nails, so long that they were obviously fake...though that should have been a give away, but her outfit was what sealed the deal. A skirt and a vest, there was no doubt about it, the girl on the table was from Earth.

**Author note **

**Originally this was supposed to be two chapters, but I decided to condense it into one****. ****Also, Laoshi is not going to be one of the main four characters, but the girl on the table will be. I have something else in mind for Laoshi.**

**Fun fact, Laoshi was supposed to be female, and the girl on the table was supposed to be male, to balance out the Male to Female ratio: **

**Also, the girl on the table design was supposed to be vastly different. Being closer to a rocker chick than what I have, but decided against it since that wouldn't have worked with the back story I was giving her.**

**Speaking of that, you noticed I tried to avoid dumping the characters back story on you in one chapter., trying to spread it out a little. Also thank you to all those who have reviewed up to this point.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Meeting Even More People**

Issac simply looked at the sleeping girl, she looked like she was in her late teens, and plus she was from there world...of course Issac assumed that, because even by his norms, her outfit was completely bizarre.

A vest and a skirt wasn't too far out of the ordinary, but it was more the coloring of the outfit. Despite it's strangeness it worked, though her fashion sense wasn't really the important thing at the moment.

"Apparently someone found her exhausted outside of town, I managed to give her some water and now we just have to wait until she wakes up," Laoshi stated, as he started examining the girl, "What a strange outfit, I wonder where she is from, I must ask her when she wakes up.

Sara, Franziska and Issac all winced, the fact that the girl was still going around wearing such a thing probably meant that she really didn't know the norms of the world she was in. Most likely she never even watched the series before and she was stuck there.

"I'll going to prepare some food, and get some things ready, please inform me when she wakes up," The older man walked away, Laoshi was a rather strange man, he didn't talk much nor did he seem to show much emotion when he did things.

He was kind of just there, being rather unsettling, though Issac erased the man from his thoughts as he turned to his two companions. "So...what are we going to do when she finally wakes up?" Issac asked addressing the elephant.

He didn't know what the girls personality was, or if she even wanted to do. Still, they could just explain where she was and what she was doing there...even if they didn't even know the reasons for that.

"What do you think we're going to do, talk to her and leave her here, I can tell just by looking at her that she's probably really shallow and completely useless," Franziska scoffed a little as Sara gave a small frown as she adjusted her glasses.

"Isn't that a little harsh, to judge someone before you even speak to them?" Sara said as Franziska put her hand on her chest before exhaling slightly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, I mean I thought you were going to be smart with those glasses of yours. But in the end it turned out you were just as useless as one of those no named characters walking around this town," Sara bit her lip trying to ignore the comment as Issac shook his head.

"If she needs help then we'll help her, if she wants to go with us than she can," Issac said that without a hint of hesitation as Franziska eye twitched, as she adjusted her hat once again. One must wonder if she was getting irritated at the idea of having to wear one constantly.

"Are you stupid, you can't just decide to take people with us, you want to get home right? If you want to get home, then isn't having less people make that probability of that happening higher?" Franziska had a point, he promised those two that he would get them home no matter what...but still.

"I wouldn't want to abandon someone just so my chances of getting home will be higher. I want to help as many people as possible, so I don't mind if it makes it harder for me," Issac exhaled, it still probably wasn't very fair to either of the people he was already with. As Franziska grumbled slightly.

"Whatever, do what you want, idiot. As long as she doesn't get in my way or annoy me, then she can stay as long as she wanted," Franziska gave a small scoff as the sound of movement was heard, it seemed the girl was moving slightly as her eyes slowly fluttered open, looking at it, it seemed she even had fake eye lashes.

She had light gray eyes, she then looked around the area almost confused. Thinking about it, the room itself was very old fashion so it was obvious that she realized that she wasn't in any place modern.

"Damn...I guess no matter how many times I wake up I like, still in this crappy place," The girl groaned as she looked around she stared right at the three who was simply staring at her, not making a moment. It seemed that she was examining their outfits.

"Great...even more cosplayers, is it some nationwide thing or something? Everywhere I go there is some thing or someone, like wearing something weird," Issac sighed, he knew it was going to be hard explaining everything to the person that was sitting.

Issac wondered how he should go about speaking to her, if he should be blunt or put it delicately. Though Issac wasn't going to be the one to explain it as Franziska glared at the twin-tailed girl before straightening her poster.

"You idiot, they aren't cosplayers, they're actually people that live here! Don't you think it's been odd that people have been staring at you, like you're a freak?" Of course Franziska could help, but throw a little bit of her own charm into her explanation as the girl just frowned.

"Well, you don't have to be like, rude about it or something," The girl twirled her hair slightly, even though Issac didn't know much about the girl, but he could tell that she was bored, which was odd considering the situation that she was in.

"Actually, do you guys know where we are...I mean I haven't seen a single car or anything. So I assumed that we are in some foreign country but..." The girl gave a small frown before staring straight at Issac as the teen gave a small wince.

"We'll, we're in the Earth Kingdom..." Issac said as he turned to face Franziska who was giving him a disgusted look as Sara continued to scan the girl.

It was as if the woman knew her from somewhere, but couldn't put a mark on it. Though Issac doubted they knew one another personally. Perhaps they seen each other in a parking lot once, either way the girl responded to the words Issac spoke.

"Earth Kingdom...is that some place in the middle east?" With that it was confirmed that she literally had no idea where she was or what to do as Sara smiled slightly and gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, I still don't really understand anything myself either, I'm just going around with these two," Sara said something that made Franziska eye twitch ever so slightly.

"Hey! Don't try to drag us down because you're a complete idiot," The ginger haired girl scoffed as Issac crossed his arms and rubbed the back of his head. Things weren't really being explained well at all, actually he was almost positive they just made it more confusing for her.

"You are awake?" A familiar voice as Issac Sara and Franziska nearly jumped out of their seats as the girl turned to face the tall man walked towards her. "How are you feeling, do you feel heavy? Is your eyesight blurry?"

Perhaps it was due to the fact that Laoshi was a healer, but the way he asked those like a machine caused the girl to flinched.

"H-hey...give me a chance, like to answer," The girl twirled her hair slightly, before her eyes narrowed slightly. "I, think I'm alright, though I'm really hungry...ahh I really shouldn't be saying that, I've got a figure to take care of..."

It really didn't seem like something to be worrying about at the moment as the man closed one of his eyes. "Could you please tell me your name?"

Issac breath stop. He couldn't believe he forgot the most important thing, after all she probably just had a normal name, something that didn't really sound like it came from the world of Avatar. Though at that point it was too late to stop her since her mouth was already open.

"Alice Sullivan," She grinned as the man paused for a moment and let out a sigh. Perhaps he didn't believe her and thought he was just making up an alias to hide her name. Then again, Alice Sullivan was a pretty strange name even...not a strange as Franziska Schultheiss though.

"What an odd name," It really wasn't the reaction that Issac Sara and Franziska was expecting as he turned to face both Sara and Franziska, Laoshi then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of coins. "This is some money, why not buy this young lady some clothing and yourselves some supplies, after all she can't just wear the same thing everyday from here on out...correct?"

Sara held her words as she slowly walked up to the man as he placed the bag into her hand. Franziska grumbled slightly, probably irritated that she was being sent on what was pretty much an errand for a complete stranger that she thought was trash.

"Eh? Why not just send that loser with her and let me stay here?" It seemed Franziska broke her character somewhat, usually she was far nicer around strangers than people she thought were unfit for much attention.

"Hmm, I may not be an expert, but I doubt teenage boys really know much about clothing for teenage girls and what they like. Of course me being a man of my age probably doesn't know much about such things," Laoshi simply added his opinion as Sara gave a somewhat nervous laugh.

"Actually, I think Issac is a lot worse than most boys when it comes to picking out clothes for girls, I don't think he even understands the basics," Sara adjusted her glasses, she really wasn't the most fashion savvy person, quite the opposite, which made the fact that the clothes that Issac brought to her were so dull mismatched and unflattering it was almost hilarious.

"_I don't think I'm that bad at it..." _Issac frowned at the casually insults being thrown his way as Franziska grumbled slightly before she shot a glare at Alice before crossing her arms and looking straight at Sara.

"Fine, but you're carrying everything," Sara face turned slightly pale as Issac simply sighed.

He honestly felt bad for Sara, she really didn't have a very strong personality to even come close to competing with Franziska's and other than the fact she was sometimes awkward around people she had some pretty nice things to say. At least that is what Issac assumed from the conversations he had with her.

Franziska was already out the door as Sara turned and gave a small wave towards Issac before following the ginger haired girl.

"I shall be finishing the meal, you two should relax, it's still early after all. I will be in the kitchen if you need me." Issac gave a small shiver as Laoshi disappeared in the back, every single one of his words were either blunt, smug or robotic in a way. It was kind of creepy that it was the only emotions that he seemed to posses.

This of course left Issac and Alice to themselves, it was somewhat strange, since they just met one another and Issac didn't really know how to start a conversation with her. It really wasn't as simple as walking up to her and starting a conversation, even if Issac was right in front of while she sat on the bed.

Seconds slowly turned to minutes as neither of them said a word, Alice had her feet hanging from the side of the bed as Issac remained standing. Five minutes not doubt past without a single word being exchanged.

"Gaaaaah, I'm, like really bored here..." Alice grumbled as her voice raised a little.

"I'm so bored~ I could just die... no like really, I think I'm about to die any moment due to boredom!" Issac eye twitched, the sudden outburst was jarring to say the least, especially when neither of them had been saying anything to one another for five minutes.

"I-is it really that awful?" Issac had been bored before, but he really didn't think it was something to talk about, though if one could talk about their boredom then they probably had far too much time on their hands that they could actually be doing something.

"Yeah...for me it is, I'm really bad at dealing with being bored, though I just recently found that out when I got here," Alice said as she twirled her hair between her fingers looking at the ceiling with a small pout.

"If I was going to be stuck in a place, I would want it to be with a cell-phone or a TV you get me?" Alice said that as Issac gave a small sigh.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was so focused on staying alive he didn't even remember the luxuries he was so use to. No doubt he really couldn't stay there forever, he was a little too spoiled on modern convinces to stay their for any extended time.

"Well, I guess I do miss TV a little, though I usually spend most of time on the internet so..." Issac grumbled slightly as Alice eyes went wide for a moment before she spoke.

"You actually know what I'm talking about?! I thought I was either in a place where they take role-playing way too seriously or in some kind of poor country. But the fact that you actually know that is actually pretty surprising,"

There was no reason to keep himself hidden in front of someone from his own world, though it seemed that he never got the chance to tell her the entire thing. Though the amount of time it would take to tell her was far too long, and even then she probably wouldn't understand without details.

"Yeah, I think I'm from the same place as you, so it's only natural that I know about those...but don't really talk about them around people other than me and my friends," Issac gave her a recommendation, then again she was taking better than Sara was. Though it seemed she had been in the world for at least a few days, she most likely simply freaked out before and now is somewhat more rational about it.

"Geez, a lot of rules...so you do have a plan to get us home, right?" Alice crossed her arm before continuing, "I mean I can't stay here forever, I want out of here!" She said that with a surprising amount of conviction as Issac sighed.

"I'll find a way, so don't worry about it too much..." Issac smiled as Alice expression halted for a moment, she honestly was somewhat shocked by those words. It was probably because everyone she's met up to this point in that world either had been hostile or ignored her.

"You're a pretty nice guy huh, well if you want that weight you better not like, half-ass it or anything," Alice grinned, Issac didn't know if she was messing with him or if she honestly trusted him, though she didn't really seem like someone that would hide something, at least it appeared that way at face value.

"By the way, my name is Issac," Issac smiled as Alice nodded.

"You already know my name, now if you excuse me, I'm like going to take a nap. To be honest I thought talking with you was going to be super boring, but it was actually pretty fun. If you want to waste time again, don't like be afraid to ask!" Alice said as she lied back down, her giant head of hair.

The conversation was over, as Issac shoved his hands into his pockets, he was going to let Alice get her rest. As he sat in one of the free chairs, obviously waiting for Sara's and Franziska's return, for some reason, something in the pit of his stomach he had a feeling that something big was about to happen.

Author note

A somewhat shorter chapter. The Gaang will probably show up next chapter, considering I need to move this story along.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Understanding**

The next few days wasn't nearly as bad as Issac had first thought, Laoshi allowed them to stay at his temporary home free of charge while providing food for the teens. It seemed that Issac had pegged the man completely wrong, and despite this there was still a nagging feeling in the back of his head, like something was completely off about the man. Issac looked out the window and noticed the storm clouds in the distance, no doubt about it, they were headed their way.

"Hehehe," A small chuckle as Issac turned around to be greeted with a familiar blue eyed girl her hat still stick to her head, for some reason she seemed excited about the idea of a storm coming their way. Issac wondered if Franziska enjoyed the rain considering her reaction.

"Um, why are you in such a good mood?" Issac asked as Franziska glared at him, looking at him as if he was an idiot, which probably wasn't too far from the truth.

"You idiot, don't you remember the episode, the storm. Chances are, is that this storm is that storm, so pack your bags, we're going out and looking soon...or you can stay here and be worthless like you've been doing so well," Franziska gave a small huff, it sounded more like an order than a question, as Issac sighed, even if she was awful at saying it, she had a point.

They really couldn't stay there, Laoshi was probably leaving soon, and even if he wasn't they weren't going to get home just by staying in the small port town. They just got a large sum of supplies, and if they were going to leave now would have been a perfect time, still it would be pretty bad to leave without saying thank you to Laoshi.

"Can you give me an hour an wake everyone else up?" Issac asked a simple question as Franziska gave a small glare to Issac before she turned around in a huff.

"Don't tell me what to do, and fine, you get an hour, but if we miss Aang and the others...I'll never forgive you, and I'm serious, I'll hate you forever," Issac had a feeling deep in his stomach that she wasn't lying. Though despite all of that, it seemed that Franziska had at least gotten use to the company of others enough not to constantly try to get rid of them.

With those words Franziska turned around and left the main room and entered the hallway, Issac sometimes wondered what went through her head to make her act in such a way. Though it really wasn't his place to ask nor was it proper, and knowing Franziska she probably would get offended. "...I guess I'll talk to Laoshi," Even if Issac felt odd around the man, he still had the right to know they were leaving and be thanked, though knowing what kind of person Laoshi was, he probably wouldn't accept it or even care.

He was most likely in the kitchen, thinking about it, they never actually saw Laoshi's room, he was kind of just a presence in the house that happened to interact with them as a human being. Outside of that, he never really really acted like a person, though that was simply because Issac knew very little about the man. _"Thinking about it, I really don't remember the show mentioning a wandering waterbender," _

As Issac walked towards the kitchen he let his mind wander slightly, _"I guess the world is big, it's only natural that there are people that weren't shown," _Sure Aang and his friends were important, but it wasn't like the entire world focused on them, there were thousands of people in the world of Avatar, it would be shortsighted to say any one person is the most important person because every person is important to someone.

As Issac opened the door to the kitchen he felt a heat wave hit him, like some sort of oven. There was a table in the middle of the kitchen of course as a man sat there with a plate of food, a large amount of steam coming from the dish. There was nothing on or being heated, it was somewhat amazing, but the heat that was coming from the room, the heat that was suffocating him came from the single dish.

"Oh, please sit down," Laoshi had a spoon in his hands as Issac took a seat directly across from the older gentlemen, the dish with rice and some red type

"..."

"..."

A moment of silence as oddly enough Laoshi was the one that broke the silence.

"Do you want some?" It was a blunt question as Issac tried to keep his lip from quivering as the teen swallowed harshly.

"No," It was a blunt response as the man lifted the spoon causing Issac to nearly hold out his arm, trying to stop the man from burning a hole through his mouth. "H-hey, won't that hurt, I mean the sauce is bubbling, your mouth might really get damaged or something," From the looks of the dish, it was probably specifically designed to be spicy at least that is what Issac could tell from the smell.

It probably really wasn't enjoyable to eat even if ti was just warm, it would probably burn no matter it's temperature.

"Well of course it will hurt, though the taste more than makes up for it," Laoshi then took a bite without hesitation as Issac eye twitched, Laoshi expression did not change or alter as he took another bite, and then another. Looking more at it, the fact that Laoshi wasn't blowing in the food whatsoever was probably the most horrifying thing about it.

"Anyway, there must be a reason why you're here, though I have no idea what that could be," The man leaned back, his plate completely clean as Issac shook his head, trying to remove the scene that played out in his head.

"W-we are leaving in about an hour," Issac said, as Laoshi simply looked at Issac.

"For what reason are you telling me this?" Well it was the response that Issac was expecting, as the teen simply sighed, it wasn't like the man said it out of anger, it seemed he was truly curious to why. Though before Issac could say something, the man added something to his question, though it was another question. "If I may be so bold to ask, do you think of yourself as a good person?"

What a strange question, and even stranger for someone like Laoshi to ask, most people would simply say yes without thinking too much in it, and even the people that would hesitate to simply say yes. Though the laps of seconds to when the question was asked and the answer was far too long for a simple yes as Issac crossed his arms.

"Well, I guess I can say I'm a good person, but I can't say that I'm a great person, there are things I can do better," Issac knew he was far from perfect, after all if he was perfect then his dream would have came true by then, since his dream had not been realized yet then he obviously couldn't be any where near great and even then saying good was stretching it.

"Hmm," The man gave a small grunt, his words made the man pause for a moment, his next question towards the teen would be his last. "Tell, me do you believe in doing a certain thing for a certain reason," Issac frowned at the word, reason, it was a mediocre word that people used to validate certain things. There is no such thing as a bad reason, only good reasons and excuses.

"Reasons don't matter, you either do a good deed or a bad deed, the reasons why you do them does not matter. If you do enough good deeds then your a good person even if the reason for it is selfish, and if you do enough bad deed then your a bad person." Issac eyes narrowed, it seemed that he had a very strong sense of justice, a little too strong.

The man heard enough, Laoshi got up from his seat, Issac was a strange person, on the surface he was just a regular good hearted teenager. Though dig a little further and you can find something valiant , if something horrifying as well.

"You best speak to your friends and get ready to leave, and please do not bother saying goodbye, I have a feeling that we will cross paths sooner or later. After all, the world is far smaller than most people think," Laoshi expression did not change, as Issac simply looked, if the teen didn't have to say it then he wasn't going to as Issac lifted himself from his seat as well.

"Then, I guess I will be seeing you around," Issac said, but at that point it seemed that Laoshi was already cooking another, completely ignoring his words.

_"Well, you don't have to be rude," _Issac whispered such a thing to himself as he exited the room, heading back to the main room. Though it seemed that everyone else already beat him there as Franziska, Sara and Alice were already waiting for him, it couldn't have been an hour already though it really didn't matter since there was no reason to stay there.

Alice no longer had her trendy outfit, rather replacing it with something rather drab, Issac could tell just from the look in her eyes she hated it. Even though she was able to keep her giant hairstyle and lace up boots, mostly due to the fact that Franziska and Sara forgot to buy proper footwear. Even her fake nails vanished, but knowing Alice, she was probably keeping them in her pocket so she could snap them on at a moments notice.

"Really, did you like have to wake me up so early, I really need some beauty sleep," Alice complained slightly as she twirled her hair, looking at it, it was amazing that she was capable of putting on a shirt. Though when they found her she was wearing a vest and a button up shirt, so she probably never really had to put on her shirt head first.

"Gah, stop complaining! It's really annoying," Franziska bit her lip as Alice gave a harsh glare towards Franziska, she had some choice words for the shorter ginger haired girl, but bit her tongue for whatever reason. "Anyway, we are going to find the Avatar today, he's going to be at the port near the useless fishing boats, so I'm just warning you useless idiots not to get in my way,"

At that point Alice simply blinked, she had no idea what the Avatar was or who they were, and she was genuinely interested in finding a bit out. Though she wasn't going to ask Franziska about that.

"Franziska...we really need to be careful when handling this, we can't just jump on them or freak them out. We have to find a way to explain the situation the best way we can without sounding like we're crazy," Issac words was logical as Franziska nearly stomped her foot, she was being treated like a child, being treated like a child by Issac of all people.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I'm not an idiot, I know that more than anyone here, now lets go," Franziska cut off the conversation at that moment as she walked out of the front door, Issac wanted to believe that she wasn't going to do anything that might harm their chances of getting home, but he then would be a liar if he said he wasn't concerned.

Once again they were walking through the small port town, allowing Franziska to lead the way, she was quite a few paces a head of them as Issac slumped their bag over his shoulders, since Alice's regular clothing was in their it was obviously heavy along with smaller bags containing their food. It was quite a long walk to the port, and they had time to kill.

Sara eyes continued to scan Alice in a similar manner from when they first met, it seemed she was about to ask the girl a question. "Are you some type of model," It was less of a question about Alice's looks and more about how familiar her face is as Alice gave a large grin full of pride.

"Like, yeah, you must have saw me in a magazine, I'm not supermodel level yet, but I hope I can keep going with my career!" Alice smiled as she tugged on the ribbon in her hair before noticing the gathering storm clouds, "I, like, hope it doesn't rain, my boots weren't made for mud," Issac once again noticed Alice's boots and how much it clashed with the rest of her outfit. He honestly started to wonder if it would have been better if they just let Alice where her normal clothing, though calling them normal was a lie to begin with.

"I actually just got the magazine for free, but I remembered your face...17 is pretty young to be modeling," Sara laughed a little as Alice gained an odd expression, a rather strange one. Like all joy had been sucked from her face, though it was less due to the mention of her age, and more...about something else.

"Well...my mom really likes me doing it so, though my sister didn't care much for it..." Alice twirled her hair for a moment, it was odd, her voice sounded far more serious then it usually was, plus the fact that she was missing a certain verbal tic.

"You have a sister? I actually have an older sister myself," Issac replied, as Alice simply continued to twirl her hair not making eye contact with either of the two before the large haired girl spoke again.

"Lets drop this conversation," Alice's said bluntly as Sara flinched ever so slightly.

"Um...Alice, you got really serious all of a sudden," Sara gained a worried expression, even if he only knew the girl for a few days it was so jarringly out of character the brown haired woman had to comment on it.

"W-what are you like talking about, it's no big deal, it's like such a weird subject that's all!" Alice smiled as both Sara and Issac looked at one another, they were interested, but they knew pressing her wasn't a good idea, if she didn't want to talk about it she had every right to keep it to herself. Even if you are hanging around someone you don't need to know every little detail about someone.

"What are you idiots doing back there, hurry up!" Franziska snapped, it was one of the few times that Alice didn't mind hearing her voice as the three followed her. It seemed that they were nearing the port.

The sea air was unsettling, the storm was obvious nearing as the clouds loomed over the horizon, as the port came into view, there was a worthless old man on a boat, and no sight of Aang or the others. Franziska was holding back her joy and glee as Issac simply looked at her, they managed to make it in time for Aang, though the way Franziska was acting was rather odd. Was she really that excited, sure Issac would be lying if he said he wasn't a little excited, but still.

Alice and Sara simply looked confused about the whole thing, though that confusion soon turned to horror, as they saw a large indescribable beast was sighted just casually in the water, perhaps it was because they didn't have their heads up the entire time, but it seemed they missed the Sky Bison in the harbor.

"W-what is that thing?" Alice twitched a little as Sara covered her mouth, Franziska gave a large grin, she was more concerned about the people that were on the bison than the old man and his wife halving a worthless conversation about fishing.

_"Okay Franziska, here's the moment of truth, don't be like those worthless dogs that claw around your leg. You got to pick the best time to confront them, and be inline with the story, okay...now if I remember the episode perfectly a few minutes will pass and Sokka will accept the job to go fishing, so after he accepts the job, but before that worthless old man screams at Aang...that will be my chance" _Franziska smirked, of course she was a genius to think of something like that as both Sara and Alice was still looking at the sky bison known as Appa.

They were basically being stalkers as Issac listened closely to the conversation that was slowly unfolding looking at Franziska perfectly. He was going to keep an eye on her, and play close attention to her movements. Considering the fact that they were now hiding behind the nearest house, it was rather pathetic when someone actually thought about it.

After what felt like a few minutes, Franziska eye twitched as she nearly ran out of their hiding spot giving Issac barely enough time to register what was about to happen. "Shit!" Issac eye twitched as he ran after the ginger haired girl causing Sara to flinch as Alice gave a small groan, her boots were not made for running, but yet here she was running towards a giant animal following two people she had just met.

There were five people, two elderly people one of which was preparing a small boat for travel out to sea. Of course those two were completely worthless, at least to Franziska, the people that were important. The three much younger people, one being a bald young boy with arrows across his head and limbs with a brown and yellow outfit that really couldn't be described by modern conventions. The other two seemed had a darker skin complexion with blue outfights, one being a teenage girl slightly younger than Franziska the other being a male who seemed like a similar age to Issac.

"Sokka, I don't think this is a good idea," It was the first words that they heard Aang mutter that everyone heard as the watertribe teen responded.

"I said I was doing the job Aang, and I can't back out now just because of some bad weather," Sokka response was almost perfect, but before the scene could be perfect there was a rather rude interruption.

"Hi~" The girl wore her hate tightly as she held her hands behind her back, Franziska made sure she was making the best first impression that she could, as Aang Sokka and Katara simply looked at the random girl that just came walking up to them, however before they could respond to her Franziska kept talking. "You're the Avatar right? I'm a huge fan of yours, you're amazing!" Franziska gave a wide grin, it was hard to tell if she was being genuine or a lie.

The bald nomad smiled, as he gave a somewhat proud laugh, he was just like Franziska imagined him. "Yep, that's me!" He was somewhat smug about it, but Aang wasn't the only one that was enjoying himself.

_"From here on out I don't have to be with those worthless losers anymore, from here on out I get to be special..." _Franziska tried to hold her breath, to keep herself from squealing, though her thoughts were cut short by the annoyance of an episode.

"Don't be so proud about it," Franziska groaned as the old man said those words, of course she pointed out the fact that Aang was the Avatar to cause such a reaction, but it was still annoying to have such a useless person say something like that.

"The Avatar vanished for a hundred years! You turned your back on the world!" Aang slowly backed away as the man's words seemed to pierce his heart, at this point Issac Sara and Alice had arrived, though two out of three of them had no idea what was going on and what they were doing.

"Stop yelling at him!" Katara glared at the old man, "He would never turn his back turn is back on anyone!"

"Oh, would he? Then I must have imagined the past hundred years of pain and suffering!" The man snapped back as Franziska grumbled.

_"Worthless piece of trash, saying such things...I probably would call him a dog if given the chance," _Franziska grumbled slightly, she had to keep up appearances no matter what, she really couldn't show her nasty side to Aang and the others, after all she needed to be presented as sweet and kind, and calling people dogs was not a good idea if she wanted to keep that image, she was at least self-aware enough to realize that.

"Aang is the bravest person I know, he's has done nothing but help and save people since I've met him, plus it's not his fault that he disappeared...right Aang?" It seemed that Katara didn't notice Aang open his glider and fly away, he was obviously holding back tears as the waterbender yelled his name.

"That's right, runaway, runaway like you did a hundred years ago!" The old man yelled once again as Katara jumped on Appa and glared at the elder.

"You're a horrible old man!" However before Katara could say the words that would cause the beast to fly high, Franziska spoke, just loud enough for the waterbender to hear.

"I-I'm sorry, if I didn't draw attention to him, then this wouldn't have happened," Franziska bit her lip, giving her best performance as Katara paused for a moment looking at Franziska, causing Issac to grumble.

He really hated the idea of someone manipulating someone as kind as Katara, it may have been the best choice, but it still caused him to feel dirty.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault, you just wanted to thank him right?" Katara gave a warm smile as Franziska nodded slightly.

_"Now here's my chance...well I guess I'll throw the dogs a bone for letting me use them as stepping stones," _Of course the dogs referred to Sara, Issac and Alice.

"Can we help you look for him, I just can't leave it like this," Franziska smiled as Katara paused for a moment, thinking about what she was going to say, on one had they were complete strangers, Katara never spoke to them, never held a conversation past the few lines that were spoken. Though at the same time, Aang could use the encouragement and they all seemed like nice people.

"...Sure why not," Katara response showed a hint of hesitation as Franziska clapped as she grabbed on Appa not fearing the creature whatsoever, the same couldn't be said for Alice and Sara who simply stared confused at the series of events, who was the Avatar, what was the creature in front of them, who was that girl on the creature, where were they going, why? Issac of course picked up on their reactions somewhat, but explaining it to them now would not only be risky.

"Come on guys..." Issac tried to use his facial expression to tell the two not to question anything at the moment, and it seemed that Alice managed to pick up on that as she simply twirled her hair, almost as if she was uninterested Sara on the other hand simply froze in place. Something like this happened once when she was younger, and she ended up in the emergency room because of it.

So as Issac and Alice climbed aboard the giant beast Sara froze for a moment, giving herself just a second of thinking time.

_"Come, come, come, you can do this...you want to get home right, I mean this is a step to getting home right? I'm sure Issac or Franziska would do pointless and meaningless things. Plus you're the oldest one here, so you have to be at least somewhat brave!" _That wasn't the word that Sara usually didn't attach herself to, brave, but she already walked across a large wilderness, camped out and saw someone's arm get cut open. Jumping on a giant furred beast isn't that big of a step...right?

So with a deep breath, Sara climbed on the behemoth as Katara looked back at her four passengers, "Okay, it might seem a little weird at first, but hold on tight,"

Sara had no idea why the girl said such a thing, that was until she said three very specific words.

"Appa, yip,yip," It was at that moment Sara realized why Katara said it would be a little weird at first, because the creature took off into the air.

**Author note**

**The next chapter is going to finish the storm and cover the blue spirit, **

**Also, out of Sara, Issac, Franziska and Alice who's is your favorite and least favorite, and maybe why.**


End file.
